The European Communist Action convened in Istanbul on January 19, 2025, hosted by TKP.
The parties participating in the meeting organized under the title “Developments in the Middle East We strengthen our solidarity with the peoples of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria” exchanged ideas on the developments in the Middle East.
The following Parties attended the meeting: Party of Labour of Austria, Communist Revolutionary Party of France, Communist Party of Greece, Workers Party of Ireland, Communist Front (Italy), New Communist Party of the Netherlands, Communist Party of the Workers of Spain, Communist Party of Sweden, Swiss Communist Party, and Communist Party of Turkey.
At the end of this meeting, which strengthened the common perspective of the ECA parties on the latest developments in the Middle East, the participant parties fulfil their duty to warn the working people of the world of the threats and dangers that lie ahead and reaffirm their solidarity with the peoples and communists of the region. In this respect, the ECA Parties:
1. Underline the gravity of the escalation of Israeli aggression and expansionism in Palestine, as well as in Lebanon and Syria, backed by the US, NATO and the EU. Emphasize that the need to stop Zionist Israel remains the most burning issue for the good of all the peoples of the region.
2. Continue the struggle for a real ceasefire as provided for in the deal between Israel and Hamas, on the condition that the peoples of Palestine and the region retain the right to struggle against the ongoing Israeli occupation and aggression, for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip. The fragile ceasefire does not erase the crimes of the Israeli state. The resistance of the Palestinian people and the solidarity of the peoples around the world, which have characterized the struggle against the aggression of the occupier throughout this period, continue for the freedom of Palestine.
3. Continue to advocate internationally for the establishment and recognition of an independent Palestinian state on the borders established before 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Demand the cessation and dissolution of the illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories, the release of prisoners in Israeli jails and the return of refugees to their homes in accordance with UN Resolution 194.
4. Declare that all governments that continue to maintain direct or indirect political or economic relations with Israel are complicit in a great crime against humanity, especially the genocide in Palestine. Emphasize that these bourgeois governments must be made to pay the bill for their collaboration with Israel, and pledge to raise the struggle in their own countries to put an end to these relations.
5. Acknowledge that what is happening in Syria, the last link of this aggression, is the product of imperialist intervention, underlining the involvement of the US, NATO, EU, UK, Israel and Turkey and the role of the jihadists.
6. Further point out the connections between the developments in Syria, after Palestine and Lebanon, and the ongoing competition over raw material and energy resources, energy transmission lines, trade routes and international markets, which has led to regional wars and conflicts.
7. Understand that the situation in Syria is nowhere near reaching a stable equilibrium anytime soon; emphasize the fact that the events in Syria signify a new phase of the instability that has been going on in the region for years; oppose any kind of dismemberment and change of borders and warn peoples of new waves of migration, new conflicts and wars that may spread to other parts of the region, particularly to Iran.
8. Denounce the reactionary forces trying to impose nationalism and religious-sectarian politics that violate people’s rights, religious choices, religious tolerance and secularism. Stress the vital importance of the class struggle as well as the unifying power of the working class.
9. Acknowledge that the way to end this situation is for the workers of the region to rise up against imperialist intervention and capitalist exploitation. Declare that they stand in solidarity with the peoples and the communists of the region at a time of grave difficulty when they embark on struggle under dire circumstances and as the workers of the region need to regain their strength and unite their forces.
